Sakura

Cherry blossom, the flower of Japanese cherry tree is a national symbol of Japan. The blossoms are celebrated for their delicate, ephemeral beauty, symbolizing the fleeting nature of life.  And because of it, there are endless haikus about sakura, so it took me a while to find the 'one' that perhaps best describes the feeling of this painting.

"The days until today Today I discard The first cherry blossoms. " 

- Kaga no Chiyo This work is a manifestation of Mono no Aware—the bittersweet pathos of things. It is the realization that the sakura is most beautiful exactly at the moment it begins to fall. I tried to think of the silence and the void into which these blossoms inevitably disappear, but then will come back in a new form in the new year.